


Aliens Amongst Us

by Carrie_Poppins



Series: Aliens Amongst Us [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron)-centric, Keith was Raised Galra, POV Multiple, Parental Krolia (Voltron), Quintessence-Sensitive Keith (Voltron), Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Supportive Krolia (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25478143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carrie_Poppins/pseuds/Carrie_Poppins
Summary: There was something about the kid. He almost seemed… older than his years. Like he had already seen so much in his lifetime that he couldn’t be bothered to care about something as mundane as class.Krolia never returned to the Blades of Marmora. Instead, she chose to remain on Earth and protect the Blue Lion with her family, and when her husband died, she dedicated herself wholly to her son's care. At the time, she didn't realize that decision would lead to the discovery of all five of the Voltron Paladins.
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Allura & Keith (Voltron), Coran & Keith (Voltron), Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Keith & Krolia (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Aliens Amongst Us [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880875
Comments: 98
Kudos: 220





	1. Takashi Shirogane

There was something about the kid. 

Shiro knew it from the moment that he walked into that classroom on that fateful day. Well perhaps not the  _ exact _ moment, but the moment he looked at the kid across the room and saw him staring wistfully up at the sky, not paying even the slightest attention to his little lecture-cum-motivational-speech. It wasn’t that he minded the kid not paying attention, it just caught him off guard. Every single class he’d ever visited had practically exploded the moment he walked into the room. Even those that  _ weren’t  _ interested in space exploration at least perked up when they heard his name. 

Not this guy. He seemed to have turned his head  _ just so _ so that his long, dark hair hid his eyes and his expression of complete and utter disinterest--even though, from the direction of his gaze alone, Shiro could guess that he had at least a  _ passing  _ interest in space. Even when he announced that they could all have a go at the simulator, he looked flat-out bored, not even excited to get out of class. He almost seemed… older than his years. Like he had already seen so much in his lifetime that he couldn’t be bothered to care about something as mundane as class.

Shiro kept an eye on him as all of his classmates tried out the simulator, and one after another they crashed and had to let the next person have a go. “We’ve had some great tries, but nobody’s made it past the third level yet,” he smiled, then glanced towards the kid standing moodily to one side. “Looks like you’re the only one left. Think you’ve got what it takes?” The kid frowned up at him, making eye contact for the first time. He looked like he was about to object when suddenly he stiffened, his dark eyes narrowing slightly before flashing wide. 

Shiro blinked. The effect of the boy’s sudden change in demeanor was startling, stripping away all of the attitude and making him appear, for the first time, like the thirteen year old kid that he actually was, and not someone far older. His dark gray, almost purple eyes seemed to grow soft and wondering, his lips parting as though in amazement. Was the kid only now recognizing him or something?

Then the guarded look returned, but he nodded hesitantly, so Shiro counted that as a win. He grinned, beckoning for the kid to enter the simulator. He hesitantly took his seat, then took a deep breath, closing his eyes and reaching out, playing with the controls until he got a feel for them. When he opened his eyes again, they were set with determination.

A broad grin spread across Shiro’s face as the kid  _ demolished _ one level after another, flying considerably faster through each level than any of his classmates, despite the fact that he hadn’t even been watching any of their attempts. Within three minutes, he’d cleared level five, much to the very-vocal chagrin of several of the other kids. It was almost a wrench when the teacher grabbed his attention--he really didn’t want to tear his eyes away from the simulator. 

“I’ve compiled a list of those that I think would make the best candidates for the Garrison,” she smiled, handing him a data pad with a list of about five names. 

Shiro scrolled through them thoughtfully. Griffin, James. Mikkelson, Erik. Jones, Kristen. Sigcha, Maria. Benson, David. “Is this guy on there?” he asked, indicating the boy that was already ripping his way through the asteroid field on level seven. “He looks about ready to fly the actual thing!”

“Keith?” the teacher frowned, quirking an eyebrow towards the boy. “He’s a bit of a  _ discipline case. _ I don’t think that he’d necessarily fit in with the rigid garrison culture. I would recommend James Griffin; he has the highest grades in school,” she continued, smiling proudly towards a brunette still standing over Keith’s chair, loudly proclaiming that the machine must be broken. Shiro could see a little bit of the boy Keith’s face. His teeth were slightly grit as though in concentration, although, strangely, Shiro read the look more as… anger? Could it be because of the teasing and disbelief of his classmates? Because he shouldn’t be able to hear his teacher’s less-than-complimentary commentary from where he was sitting. 

Right?

_ Level 8 Complete  _ flashed across the screen a moment later, distracting Shiro from his thoughts. Was this really the kid’s first time in a simulator? He himself had crashed on level four the first time he’d given it a shot. 

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he said absently, stepping forward to watch the kid continue his winning streak through level nine. And ten. And thirteen. And seventeen. 

By the end of class, the other students had fallen silent, staring in absolute awe as he completed level twenty-one, an almost smug curl to his lips as the bell rang and he pulled his hands away from the controls and stepped out of the simulator, ignoring the cheers and congratulations of his classmates. Even his teacher looked a little stunned. Shiro could only shake his head, chuckling to himself. 

This kid was nothing short of a  _ prodigy. _

The boy’s eyes flicked towards him then, suddenly turning soft and almost vulnerable. Shiro allowed his grin to widen, nodding at the kid encouragingly. His smile broadened in turn, but he didn't make a move to approach him. 

Then the teacher organized her class once more and herded them inside.

Shiro stuck around after classes had ended on a whim, watching the students filter out of the gates, some noticing him, but most not. Eventually, he saw him, his hands shoved in his hoodie, his dark eyes flickering around the grounds and falling on him almost instantly. Shiro stepped forward to meet him. 

“Keith, right?” he smiled, extending a hand to shake. “I’m Officer Shirogane. Shiro.”

“Yeah,” the kid nodded, reaching out to clasp his forearm rather than his hand. Shiro blinked in surprise, but the boy’s voice was soft and clear as he met his gaze frankly and without a hint of uncertainty or embarrassment. He had a slight accent, so maybe the forearm thing was a custom wherever he was from? “It’s an honor to meet you.” 

His eyes were less guarded now, but there was still  _ something  _ there. Something intense and searching, but also something… contemplative. 

“That was an impressive display back there,” Shiro smiled. “How’d you manage to do that?”

Keith shrugged, withdrawing his hand. “I’ve always had a feel for that kind of thing,” he explained simply. “It’s in my blood, I guess. My mom’s a pilot, too.”

“Oh? At the Garrison? What’s her name?”

He shook his head. “Not at the Garrison, no. She worked for an independent company.”

Shiro nodded in understanding. The commercial space flight business was a pretty new field. It was highly,  _ highly _ regulated by the Garrison, with intensive background checks for all employees involved, but it was starting to gain headway. He smiled again. “I’d like to meet her some time. She must be an incredible pilot herself.”

“Maybe,” Keith shrugged. “She's pretty busy though. She works all the time so that she can put me through school, and anyway she doesn't fly anymore. She started working as an independent writer online so she could stay home with me after dad died.”

“So does that mean you’re left to your own devices a lot?”

“Yeah. I do what I can to help around the house since it's just me and mom now. And even though I can't get an actual job, I work where I can.”

“Makes sense. I imagine that the two of you have sacrificed quite a bit. So, do you want to get into the Garrison?”

Keith hesitated just for a moment, his eyes flicking away, but when they returned, there was something new there. Something firm and unapologetic, like an iron rod. (Just for an instant, the young officer could have sworn that Keith's eyes changed, narrowing to slits while a reddish energy flickered behind his irises. But it was gone so quickly, he couldn't know for sure.) The boy nodded once, and Shiro felt another smile tug at his lips. For the  _ life _ of him, he couldn’t understand why his teacher seemed to think the kid wasn’t a good candidate for the Garrison. Sure, he seemed to be a little bit prickly towards his fellow students, but he was  _ talented, _ and he obviously had willpower in spades, especially if he was essentially taking care of himself while his mom worked. Come to think of it, maybe that was why he was a ‘discipline case’. With so much ingrained independence, he probably didn’t take well to orders, or at least orders that he didn’t see the sense of.

Well, they could work on that. It seemed strange but, one way or another, he felt drawn to this kid. He  _ wanted  _ to be a part of his development. “Do you think your mom would mind if you came and met me at the Garrison tomorrow?”

Keith blinked, a flicker of surprise flashing through his eyes. “I doubt it,” he said finally. 

“Great. Meet me at this address at 0800 hours.”

“Sure,” he smiled slightly, accepting the card that Shiro handed him. It sounded like he hummed softly in pleasure as he looked at it, although the sound seemed…  _ deeper _ somehow. Lower-pitched than normal. 

“Guess I’ll see you then,” Shiro grinned and headed towards his car, excited to see what this young man would become.


	2. Lance McClain

There was something about Keith that seriously  _ got under Lance’s skin.  _ Maybe it was the blatant favoritism he got from Officer Shirogane, or maybe it was the way that Keith rubbed it into everyone’s face, or maybe it was the way that he kept  _ staring  _ at him, his eyes sharp and narrowed and contemplative or who knows what else, but it was  _ driving him up the wall!! _

Things had been rough between them from the start. That first day Lance had walked into the classroom determined to make friends. Of course that meant that when he’d seen a brooding boy with a mullet staring out the window looking absolutely bored while everyone around him chattered eagerly and waited for their teacher to arrive, he went over to introduce himself with a friendly arm around the guy’s shoulder. After all the guy obviously needed a friend and fashion advice, and those were areas in which Lance excelled.

“Hey man, what’s yo-”

The guy drove an elbow into Lance’s gut, leaping back with eyes narrowed into slits and a sound suspiciously like a  _ hiss _ exiting his mouth. Lance couldn't even cry out with the sudden pain, all of his breath stolen from his lungs in one fell swoop. “Wh-What the hell man?!” he gasped when he could breathe again. “I come say ‘hi’ and your response is to sucker punch me!?!”

Keith just stared at him, his dark eyes wide in shock but not remorse. “You… Your eyes…” he said slowly, almost shakily.

“What’s wrong with my eyes?!”

“Is… Is that your natural eye color?”

“Jeez, why does everyone think that I wear contact lenses? Is it so weird for a Cuban kid to have blue eyes?!”

“Ah… S-Sorry, I… Um…”

That’s about when the teacher walked in, so Lance didn’t get a chance to chew him out for attacking him and being a stereotyping  _ jerk,  _ but whatever. After that Lance just resolved to keep his distance, but then of course it turned out that they were preparing for the same program at the Garrison. And  _ of course _ he turned out to be some kind of flying prodigy and made sure to let the world know it, zipping through every single level. And you know, that could have been fine. He could be talented and Lance could get over it.  _ If he’d stop sending looks his way every single time he beat another one!! _ And you know, he could have even gotten over the fact that he hit him that first day--maybe Keith just didn’t take well to being touched--but then he seemed perfectly  _ fine _ when Officer Shirogane (or ‘Shiro’ as he made a point of calling him in front of literally  _ everybody) _ threw an arm around his shoulders the same way that Lance had tried and Keith just  _ grinned  _ at him, playfully teasing him for sitting back on his laurels while Keith demolished his record.

If that wasn’t a humble brag, then Lance didn’t know what was. 

His one solace was the fact that aside from Officer Shirogane, Keith most definitely wasn’t a teacher’s pet, and seemed to have little to no interest in becoming one. As a general rule, he chafed under the rules and regulations of the Garrison, and would occasionally argue with his teachers about concepts they were studying--in particular in math and science classes--and he seemed to really struggle with history and literature. He was a prickly jerk, too. He avoided associating with his classmates and tended to be aggressive. Once he even punched Griffin across the face. (Lance would admit that he took some pleasure in watching that. Griffin was a self-entitled jerk, too.) And yet in spite of all that, Keith seemed to make a point of hanging around him, watching him closely both in and out of class, but never talking to him. 

That’s how things stood when Lance was racing towards class one morning. He was running late--he’d stayed up  _ way _ too late the night before ‘studying for a test’ (read: being absurdly distracted as usual--darn ADHD) and now he might just miss that very test all because he couldn’t keep a decent sleep schedu-

Lance grunted in surprise and alarm when he raced around a corner, slamming head-on into someone and sending both toppling to the floor. The Cuban boy groaned and rubbed his face as he blinked blearily at the person he’d hit. It was one of the older students, from the high school program, and he looked  _ POed.  _

“What the heck you idiot?!” the boy yelled at him, staggering to his feet and swaying slightly.

“S-Sorry,” Lance groaned, struggling to his feet as well.

“Why’re you in a space esploration program if you can’ even look were yer goin’!?”

“I… I said I was sorry,” Lance frowned, taking a slight step back. The guy's eyes were bloodshot, and now that he looked again, Lance didn’t think that he was swaying from the force of the collision; he  _ reeked  _ of alcohol. “Look… um… I’m sorry I hit you, but I have to get to class so… I’ll see you later?” The Cuban boy tried to edge around the older kid, intent on making it to class before the bell rang or he wouldn’t be allowed to take that test and he could  _ not _ afford to get a zero on it. 

“Hey!” the older kid snarled, seizing Lance’s wrist in a clumsy, but tight grip. “Yer not allowed to go by ‘til you’ve ‘pologized!”

“I… I  _ did _ apologize,” the shorter boy managed.  _ Twice,  _ he added mentally, trying to subtly twist his hand free. His class was  _ right there _ around the corner why did this have to happen-

The older kid dragged him back towards him. “Wha’s tha’ ya  _ smart mouth?!”  _ he hissed and Lance grimaced at his alcohol breath. 

“I-”

“Hey.”

Lance’s assailant turned at the sound of the new voice. Right in time to take a stunning right hook across his jaw. 

The boy’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he crumpled, his mouth hanging open weirdly and leaving Lance staring in absolute shock at Keith Kogane. His fellow cadet’s eyes seemed to burn angrily--if Lance didn’t know any better, he’d think that they turned feral, yellow and slitted like a cat’s. But then Keith closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and forced himself to relax, mumbling something that sounded like a curse under his breath. When he looked at Lance again, the weird effect on his eyes was gone. 

“You okay?” he asked in a low voice that still had the subtlest hint of a growl to it. Lance could only nod dumbly at him. “Good. Let’s get to class.”

Without another word, Keith turned and walked away, leaving Lance’s assailant unconscious on the floor. For his part, Lance blinked, his mouth opening and closing a few times in shock, before he mustered up the presence of mind to chase after him, throwing out a half-hearted, “I had him!” at his fellow cadet’s back. Keith snorted, but while it seemed disbelieving, it didn’t quite seem mocking. 

Lance was irritated that Keith stepped in, but he couldn’t deny that he was also just the slightest bit grateful for it. Unfortunately the fight--if you could call it that--had been caught on camera, but with Lance’s testimony, Officer Shirogane’s intervention, and a blood test to determine the amount of alcohol in that high school kid’s system, they let Keith off with some disciplinary details and the warning that if he got into any more fights, he’d be expelled no questions asked. Keith had accepted their warning stoically and things had returned more or less to normal. 

Lance couldn’t say that things were fixed between them, but they  _ did _ improve. Bit by bit, he learned that Keith's father had died when he was little, leaving his mother as his only family. The closest thing to a friend that he had was Officer Shirogane, who he’d met in middle school. He also learned that Keith was strongly adverse to any physical contact beyond a handshake unless it was with someone that he was really close to,  _ especially  _ if he didn't know it was coming, so that might explain his explosive reaction to Lance touching him on the first day of school. Furthermore, Lance learned he had been homeschooled up until middle school, which might be why he struggled in history. More importantly, Keith's mom was from another country (where exactly, he never learned) and English wasn't his first language, which would explain the occasional flashes of panic across his face in literature class when he answered a question and it came out as words that no one had ever heard before. As a native Spanish-speaker himself, Lance could sympathize to some degree.

Keith still came across as kind of arrogant, though. He still argued with teachers in science class (seriously, how could he be so certain that ships  _ could  _ in fact travel faster than light?) and he still had a weird obsession with peoples’ eyes. (Lance could still remember the weirdly distant look on his face when he met Hunk for the first time and absently asked if yellow was a normal eye color for humans. a) Rude, b) weird, and c) of  _ course _ not!) He was still prickly in social situations and he still stared at Lance--and Hunk after that conversation, he realized--from across the room on occasion, but Lance conceded that Keith wasn’t a  _ bad _ guy.

That didn’t mean he had to like him, though.


	3. Katie Holt

There was something about the guy. Something desperate and determined in his dark eyes. Something that reminded Katie of herself. 

That was why, when the probably-a-cadet somehow appeared before her on the day that she was going to try to break into the Galaxy Garrison, she paused to listen to him.

“I can help you get into Iverson's office,” he said softly, his gray-purple eyes hard and piercing. “All I ask is that you share whatever you learn.”

"Why would you help me?" Katie frowned. She might have mostly-good intentions, but she wasn't naive enough to think that everybody trying to break into the Galaxy Garrison did.

"Because I need to know what happened to Shiro. I need to know if there's any chance that he's still alive."

“Shiro?” Katie repeated slowly. “You mean Officer Shirogane? The pilot from the Kerberos Mission?” 

“He was my friend,” the boy explained, his hands curling into fists at his side as he glared at the ground. “Practically my brother. He was the best pilot from Earth; I know that the mission didn’t fall apart because of pilot error. I keep asking for information, but they won’t tell me anything.”

Katie frowned a little bit at his wording. Why 'from Earth' and not 'on Earth'? But then he did have a slight accent, so maybe it was just a syntax slip. Either way, she didn’t disagree with him. And she could certainly relate to being desperate to find lost family. Wasn't that the entire reason she was trying to break in in the first place?

"Okay," she said finally. "What do you suggest we do?"

A grim smile touched the boy's mouth. "Come on," he whispered, beckoning for Katie to follow. After a moment's hesitation, she did so. The cadet led her to a small maintenance door in the wall of the Garrison. She stared in amazement as he produced a pair of small metal tools and used them to pick the lock, opening the way into a small, unoccupied corridor. He led the way with a calm, quiet sort of confidence, pausing on occasion and holding up a hand in warning when someone walked by. 

They made it to the administrative offices without so much as a hitch. Katie found herself breathing a sigh of relief, but her guide still seemed cold and serious. "That's Iverson's office," he whispered, indicating the door in question. "I'll stand guard while you hack in. Get everything you can. If I get into trouble, don't try to interfere. Just follow the same route back."

"Okay," Katie whispered, rising from her crouch to make her way towards the door. Then she paused, suddenly thoughtful. "Just in case we _do_ get in trouble, my name's Katie Holt."

The cadet looked momentarily surprised. Then he smiled. "I'm Keith. Keith Kogane."

Katie flashed him a quick smile in turn before she made a break for the office. She didn't allow herself to look back. Keith had gotten her this far; she would just have to trust that he'd buy her the time she needed to hack into the system if necessary. 

It took all of about three minutes to get past the firewalls. Two more to locate the files that she needed. She quickly plugged in her storage drive and began the lengthy process of downloading the data. While she waited, shifting anxiously from foot to foot, she opened up one of the videos. It looked like the feed from a drone, carefully hovering over the surface of an icy plain.

Kerberos.

Katie watched breathlessly as the drone moved inexorably closer to the supposed wreckage site. Bit by bit, she made out signs of _some_ kind of destruction: scattered equipment, charred metal, and so on. But then there was another piece of metal: the fully intact hull of a Garrison ship.

The Kerberos Mission hadn't ended in a crash after all. But then where…?

Katie flinched as she heard shouting outside. Heart pounding, she crept to the window of the office, peeking through the blinds. Three Garrison officers, Iverson included, appeared to be struggling to hold down a slight figure in an orange jacket. He managed to lift his head minimally, and for just an instant, Katie caught the urgent gaze of yellow, slitted eyes. 

She nodded in understanding, rushing back to the desk, where the last file was just about finished uploading. It was a tense thirty seconds more before she could pull the storage device out of the computer, slam down the 'power off' button (the techie in her _cringed_ at the inelegance of that method), and rush to the door. Keith was being half-led, half-dragged down the hall by two of the officers that had been restraining him, glaring down Iverson as he shouted at him, demanding to know the truth of what happened to Shiro. Under the cover of the noise, Katie quickly ducked out of the office and darted down another hallway, waiting breathlessly until Iverson stomped into his office, muttering irritably and rubbing a fresh bruise on his cheek.

Once the door had closed behind him, Katie dashed back along the path Keith had snuck her in by. She was frankly _stunned_ that she got out without anyone noticing her. Even so, she had to lean against the outer wall for almost a full five minutes before the adrenaline faded and she stopped shaking. 

It was almost two days before she saw Keith again. She was a little surprised, to be honest. It wasn't a weekend, so the cadets shouldn't be allowed out of the Garrison at this point in the day. She'd only barely gotten out of class herself. Yet there he was, dressed in plain black jeans, a black T-shirt and a red leather jacket, leaning against the fence that surrounded her house. 

It was a wonder no one had called the cops on him yet.

"Keith?" she called, hurrying towards him.

"Katie," he smiled back faintly. "Did you get the intel?"

"Yeah. Downloaded the entire case file. What are you doing out here, though? Shouldn't you be at the Garrison?"

"Nah. Apparently punching a superior officer in the face carries heavier consequences than punching a classmate."

"What do you mean?"

"I got expelled."

"WHAT?!" Katie shrieked. "But… But that was the _Galaxy Garrison!!_ People work for _years_ to get in there and you're just shrugging it off like it's nothing?!"

"I'm gonna be a pilot some day whether I go through the Garrison or not," Keith shrugged again. "Finding out what happened to Shiro is more important to me than graduating from a fancy flight school."

Katie gaped wordlessly at him, but she couldn't exactly protest too much. She'd broken into the Garrison fully knowing that if she'd been caught, it would have ruined any and all chances of getting in herself some day. "Isn't… Aren't your parents upset?" she managed weakly. Keith shrugged again. 

"I mean yeah, a bit, but when I told Mom why I did it, she understood."

"…Just like that?"

"Yep."

"…Your mom sounds awesome."

Keith released a soft huff that Katie easily interpreted as a startled laugh. "Anyway, what'd you find?"

Katie hesitated, glancing over her shoulder as though someone might be watching them. "You'd better come inside," she said eventually, gently plucking at his sleeve. 

Keith followed her readily, and before long he stood leaning over her shoulder, watching with a sharp-gazed intensity at the footage of the drone hovering over Kerberos once again. "Pause, right there," he said suddenly, sending Katie scrambling for her mouse. 

“See that?” the young man whispered, a strange intensity burning in his eyes as he stared at the screen. 

"See what? The rift?" Katie frowned, gesturing with one finger at the dark scar across Kerberos's surface.

“Exactly,” Keith breathed. “See how much darker the stone is? And it's a lot glassier than the areas surrounding it. Not to mention the snow and ice has been vaporized, even though the entirety of the rest of the planet is coated in it. It's like that area has been burned or fused by some kind of intense heat.” 

“I… Well actually maybe,” Katie agreed slowly, beginning to see his point. “So… you think that this was caused by, like, a weapon of some kind? Like… Like a heat ray? Some sort of ion laser, maybe?” The grim expression on Keith's face was answer enough. Katie managed to take a shaky breath as everything clicked into place. “You think they were attacked,” she breathed, “don’t you.”

He didn’t answer immediately, just continued to search the image, something dark and contemplative in his eyes. “Maybe,” he whispered, almost too soft for her to hear. Then he shook himself slightly, leaning back from the computer. “Were you able to get the statistical reports?” 

“Yeah. Just a sec.”

They spent upwards of three hours combing through the remainder of the files, from more footage from the drones to damage assessments and finally to a mysterious, somewhat staticky audio recording in another language that made Keith go pale and stiff as he listened to it. 

"Keith?" Katie asked, a little urgently. "Keith, are you okay?"

"I… Y-Yeah," he stuttered, taking a shaky breath. "It's just… That language. It… It isn't from Earth."

"How can you be so sure?"

"My mom studies languages. I've spent years listening to sound samples and this doesn't sound like any of them."

"So… What do we _do?"_ Katie asked, a little panicked. "If there really are aliens out there, and the Garrison know it, then why aren't they doing anything about it?!"

"They don't have enough information," Keith murmured. "None of them have the ability to translate this. But maybe… Katie, can I take a copy of this recording to my mom?"

Katie balked, staring up at her new… friend? Partner in crime? "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, what we did was… kinda very illegal."

"I trust her," the older boy replied firmly, his gaze steady. "She'll keep this quiet."

"…Okay," Katie sighed eventually, reluctant but wanting to trust him. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

"We still need more information," Keith said slowly. "If the Garrison is aware that Shiro and the rest of his crew were most likely abducted, then they're probably still scanning for information, trying to figure out if there's an imminent attack. We need to know what they learn."

"Well if _someone_ hadn't been booted from the Garrison, maybe we'd have the means to keep track of that," Katie grumbled.

"Well then, it's a good thing that _someone_ is easily smart enough to show up half the comms students in my old class," Keith countered easily.

"Wait. What?!"

"Create a false identity. Enter my old class as a transfer student. We had a surplus of pilots anyway, and this semester they'll be splitting everyone into tactical teams. With your abilities and their vacancy, they'll probably take you without much question, and since you'll be in the advanced classes, you'll have more access to information and equipment."

"You're suggesting that I sneak into the Garrison under a fake name _and_ skip two grades?"

"Exactly."

"…Lord help me, I actually like that idea."


	4. Hunk Garrett

There had always been something different about Keith. That much was clear from day one, when he'd punched Lance just for trying to be friendly, but Hunk had never taken the guy for the oh-yeah-I-just-happen-to-know-how-to-fly-an-alien-spaceship kind of different. But that's exactly what was happening right now, and Hunk was  _ freaking out.  _

It was just supposed to be a night of sneaking out for a team bonding activity. Stupid and with potential for disciplinary action, but  _ not  _ dangerous. Then they'd seen Pidge sneaking out of his room, and Lance just  _ had  _ to follow him to the rooftop, where, after a moment of surprise, he admitted to building equipment to listen to alien radio chatter, in large part because of some kind of information he'd hacked about the Kerberos Mission and the true fate of its crew.

"I can only pick out bits and pieces," he'd explained, "but my friend's mom is a linguist, and she's been helping me interpret it. From what we've picked out, there's some kind of weapon called Voltron that these aliens are looking for, and it's very possible that it's here on Earth."

"So hang on,  _ aliens  _ are  _ coming here?!"  _ Hunk squeaked in alarm.

"Okay, so you're insane," Lance sighed, rolling his eyes.

"This  _ isn't  _ a  _ joke,  _ Lance," Pidge had snapped. "This is real, and tonight it's going crazier than I-"

He was cut off by the sound of a cheery ringtone. Surprised, Pidge pulled his phone from his pocket, and his eyes blew wide at the sight of the caller ID. 

In an instant, he'd pressed the 'answer' button and whipped the device to his ear. "Keith? That you?" Pidge asked eagerly.

"Hang on,  _ Keith?"  _ Lance gaped. "As in _ Keith Kogane?!" _

"Shut up, Lance!" Pidge hissed, then turned back to the phone. His eyes widened slightly, then he said, "Yeah, he's here, too. Uh-huh, it's just us. You sure? Well, okay then." Pidge pulled the phone away and hit 'speaker'. "Okay, go."

_ "Lance? Hunk? You there?" _

It was unmistakably Keith's voice. "Whoa, no way," Hunk gaped. "Hang on, how do you know Pidge? He transferred in after you… left."

_ "Long story, but this isn't the time. Listen up guys; Shiro is about to arrive back on Earth." _

"Wait,  _ what?!"  _ Lance squawked again. "As in _ Officer Shirogane _ Shiro?"

_ "Do I call anyone else Shiro?" _

"How do you know? And what about Matt? And… And Commander Holt?" Pidge demanded suddenly, his eyes wide. "Are they coming back, too?"

_ "I'm not sure. My intel indicates that Shiro's on his way back right now, but I'm gonna need your help to rescue him." _

"Rescue him? From what? From the aliens?! Are they on their way right now?!?"

_ "From the Galaxy Garrison,"  _ a new voice came, a woman's this time, and Pidge seemed to startle in surprise.

"Ms. Krolia?" he blinked. "You're there too?"

_ "Hey, Pidge,"  _ the woman audibly smiled.  _ "Long time no hear. But as I was saying, the Garrison's standard protocol for sudden returns after unexpected absences is to put the returning agent under quarantine while they perform tests on their physical and mental state. That can last for several days or several weeks depending on what they find, and we don't have that kind of time. If what Keith and I have learned is accurate, then we need to help Shiro find Voltron as soon as possible." _

"Why? What's going on?"

_ "We'll explain more when we see you, I promise,"  _ Keith said, taking over once more.  _ "Pidge, I'm sending you coordinates. Meet us there." _

__ "You mean I actually get to meet your mom?"

_ "Hopefully, yeah. Just hurry." _

The line had gone dead after that, and Pidge scrambled to collect his equipment while Lance asked a flurry of questions and Hunk gave a flurry of protests, but before he had fully processed what was happening Pidge was showing them how to sneak out of a little-used maintenance tunnel and leading the way towards Keith's location at a dead sprint. 

But then the sky began to glow a reddish purple, and all three of them stopped to stare at what could have been a meteor if the circumstances weren't so darn  _ convenient.  _

Pidge picked up the phone on the first ring. 

_ "Change of plans! Head towards the crash site; I'll pick you up on the way!"  _

"How will you know where to get us?!" Pidge shouted into his phone, making a sharp turn to follow the angle of the rapidly-falling ship. 

_ "I'm tracking your phone; ETA two minutes!" _

Before Pidge had a chance to yell at Keith about how invasive that was, the boy on the other end of the line had hung up and within two minutes there was an electronic hiss and a red hoverbike zipped into view. 

"Get on! The Garrison's already on their way; we don't have much time!" Keith had yelled, extending a hand to help Pidge while he grumbled about short legs. 

"Is this thing even gonna be big enough for us?!" Pidge yelped as Hunk climbed on and the whole bike tipped in response.

"No," Keith groaned, "but hopefully that won't matter in a minute. Hang on!" 

Despite his grumbling, the bike did manage to carry them all, and within ten minutes, they'd reached the crash site just barely behind the Garrison. 

"Now what?!" Lance hissed as they touched down, anxious as they heard the loud deliberations about how to get the door of the crashed alien spacecraft open, seeing as it wasn't responding to any of their attempts. 

Keith ignored him, holding some kind of walkie talkie or other communicator to his mouth as he hissed, "Mom, we're in position."

_ "Copy that, Keith. Diversion in three, two, one." _

Hunk couldn't quite hold back his yelp of surprise as a series of explosions rocked the night. "Were those the aliens?! Are they here?" he squeaked.

"Nope, that was my mom," Keith rolled his eyes, creeping to the edge of the rock and watching with hawk-like intensity as most of the Garrison headed towards the blast. "Lance, Pidge, take the bike and rendezvous with my mother. Hunk, you're with me."

"What?! Why does  _ Hunk  _ get to help you save Shiro?!"

"Yeah, why do  _ I  _ have to run towards the alien spaceship?!"

"Because you're the only other pilot here, Lance," Keith snapped, "and Hunk's the only engineer! If the ship is damaged, he's the only one who can help me get it airborne again! Now come  _ on, _ Hunk!"

Grumbling but galvanized into action, the Polynesian boy ran after Keith, watching in amazement as he took down the guards and medical personnel outside the ship in zero seconds flat, then hurried to a glowing purple panel on the side of the ship and pressed his hand against it. To Hunk's surprise, the door opened instantly, despite the fact that all of the Garrison's efforts to force it open had failed. 

"Dude, how'd you do that?!" Hunk exclaimed after Keith had led the way inside and closed the door once again. 

"I'll explain later; just follow me," Keith replied distractedly, drawing a previously-unnoticed knife from a sheath on his lower back and cautiously making his way deeper into the ship. Hunk, visibly shaking, trailed after him, squeaking at every unfamiliar noise, somewhere deep in the back of his mind  _ certain  _ that an alien was going to pop out of nowhere and-

"Shiro!" Keith cried suddenly, rushing forward and resheathing his knife. 

"Wait, seriously?!" Hunk gaped as he watched the other boy sprint over to a chair where a young man sat slumped over some kind of control panel, groaning softly while blood poured from a wound on his temple. "No way… Shiro really  _ was _ on the ship," Hunk gaped while Keith pulled some device out of his pocket and seemed to scan their senior officer with it. A worried frown tugged at his lips.

"Hunk, take him and lay him down. Start first aid if you can. I'm gonna get this ship in the air."

"What?! How the heck are you gonna do that?!"

"Just trust me!"

Which was how they had ended up where they were currently: Hunk freaking out and clutching Shiro's semi-conscious body while  _ Keith Kogane  _ manned the controls of an  _ alien spaceship  _ that was  _ clearly _ damaged if the nauseating vibrations through the whole ship were any indication, and yet somehow managing to outstrip every single one of the Garrison vehicles trying and miserably failing to chase after them.

"Landing's gonna be a bit rough! Hold tight!" Keith called.

"What do you-- _ urp _ \--think I'm  _ doing?!" _

They slammed nose first into what was probably a sand dune, then swerved wildly as they did the equivalent of spinning out on sand in an alien spaceship that was supposed to be floating or rocketing or… something? Whatever. Thank  _ God  _ they managed to land right-side-up at least. And that Hunk managed to  _ avoid  _ barfing on Shiro, because one glance from Keith was enough to tell him that the guy would have murdered him if he'd done that.

Between the two of them, Hunk and Keith managed to carry Shiro outside of the ship. At some point, Shiro started regaining consciousness, blearily mumbling something about Voltron and… Galra? Was that even a word? "Just hold on, Shiro," Keith had murmured gently. "You're home now. It's gonna be okay."

Shiro hadn't responded. 

About that time, they'd reached the pod's doors and Hunk tried touching the purple panel that had opened them before, but they didn't respond. Before he could panic too much, Keith stepped forward and pressed his own hand against it, and this time it  _ did  _ work. 

"Dude, how-?"

"Magic," Keith replied shortly. 

"Keith! How is he?" a woman's voice called, and Hunk glanced up with surprise towards a woman wearing… a flight suit? Seriously? It had a full helmet and everything! Was Keith's mom some sort of super spy or something?!

"Not great. He's pretty concussed and still shows signs of being affected by the drugs Ulaz said he'd been given," Keith replied, undeterred by his mother's strange appearance. "He was definitely overdosed."

_ Wait, who's Ulaz? _

"We'll deal with that later. The Garrison will track down the Empire craft before long. Let's get him into the caves and we'll proceed from there."

"Are Lance and K- Pidge with you, then?"

"Yeah. Your friend Lance isn't too thrilled about it, but they haven't complained much."

"I don't know if I can really call him my friend yet," Keith mumbled, but didn't protest otherwise. 

"Hunk, right? I'm Krolia, Keith's mother. Come on; you and Shiro will be riding with me," the woman said simply, leading the way to a black-painted hoverbike parked behind a small, cabin-like house that was obviously out in the middle of nowhere.

"Is it really Shiro?! Is he okay!?!" Lance yelled from the seat of the red bike parked next to it.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Keith grunted, passing Shiro's full weight to Hunk. 

"What about Matt and Commander Holt?!" Pidge cried anxiously behind him.

"Wasn't any sign of them," Keith replied softly, his eyes dark and sad. "I'm really sorry."

Pidge's face fell, but he slowly nodded. "I guess it was too much to hope for," he mumbled. 

Hunk was more than a little bit stunned, knowing Keith's aversion to physical contact, when the boy reached out, gently squeezing Pidge's shoulder. "We'll find them," he murmured, just loudly enough for Hunk to hear while he helped Krolia settle Shiro on her bike, "I promise."

Lance put up minimal resistance to Keith taking over the bike, still obviously wanting answers, but deciding to play it cool for the moment. However, as soon as Keith and Krolia had touched down in a surprisingly-large cave even  _ further  _ out in the middle of nowhere, his calm facade vanished.

"Okay, what the _heck_ is _happening_ here?!" he yelled even as the mother-son duo lifted Shiro between them and carried him to a small living space that had already been set up in the corner of the cave. "Keith calls _Pidge_ out of the middle of nowhere asking for help rescuing _Shiro_ who's been _missing in outer space_ for a whole freaking _year_ and yet you somehow _knew that he was coming_ and had a whole plan in place to rescue him involving _explosives_ and _stealing an_ _alien spaceship_ and your mom is somehow perfectly cool with all this and she's actually _helping you break the law_ and I'm _so freaking confused!!!"_

Keith and Krolia exchanged uncertain looks, before beginning to converse in that language that nobody knew the name of. It was… strange, to hear Keith speaking it openly. It was honestly just a strange language, full of chirps and soft growls and hums. Eventually, Krolia sighed, and turned back to face Hunk and his friends. Abruptly, Hunk realized that she was still wearing her full-face helmet. “First of all,” the woman said quietly, “I need you to promise not to scream.”

“Why the heck would we scream?” Pidge frowned.

“Just… promise me. Please.”

Hunk glanced towards Lance and Pidge, who glanced back readily, and they exchanged shrugs. “Okay. We promise.”

Krolia took a deep breath and removed her helmet. 

Revealing purple hair, purple skin, and purple eyes with yellow sclera.


	5. Krolia Kogane

Krolia had known from the moment that she realized she was pregnant that her child would be…  _ different. _ He would be the first half-Galra, half-Earthling, not to mention Earth was still technically an uncontacted planet and she was technically a rebel. Whether he chose to live on Earth or among the Blades, her child would never truly ‘fit in’. 

Still, that didn’t mean his friends’ reactions to her revelation would hurt him any less.

_ “HOLY FREAKING MOTHER OF MOLASSES, YOU’RE AN ALIEN?!?!?” _

__ “I thought you promised not to scream,” Keith sighed from the corner where he was tending to Shiro, gently cleaning the blood from his face and taping up a wound on his forehead.

Lance whirled on him, aghast.  _ “THAT WAS BEFORE I KNEW YOU WERE A FREAKIN’ ALIEN, KOGANE!!!” _

“Technically I’m not an alien,” Keith shrugged nonchalantly, but Krolia knew him better than she knew herself; she could see the tension in his shoulders, hear the wariness in his voice. “I was born and raised here on Earth. I’m just not totally human.”

_ “SEMANTICS!!!” _

“OKAY, let’s just  _ calm down, _ shall we?!” Katie shouted above the noise. She looked just as shaken as Lance, but she seemed to be trying to keep a level head at least. Hunk, the big guy, just looked terrified, mouth wide open as though in a  _ silent  _ scream, and otherwise absolutely frozen.. “So, um, I guess this is why I’ve never met you in person?” the young woman asked quietly in the sudden silence. There wasn’t any anger in her eyes, but there was a touch of wariness, and more than a touch of hurt. 

“Yes,” Krolia nodded. “I apologize for not telling you sooner. It just never felt like the right time.”

“So, um, Ms. Alien, um, Lady, you’re uh, not here to invade us, right?” Hunk squeaked.

In spite of everything, Krolia couldn’t help but laugh softly, her voice vibrating in her throat as she did. “No, I’m not here to invade you. If anything, I’m here to help prevent an invasion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why don’t we all sit down?” the Galra woman suggested, taking the lead as she did. “It’s a long story, so we might as well share it in relative comfort.” The three teens exchanged glances. Katie shrugged and sat, Lance harrumphed and flopped to the ground, and Hunk dithered and cautiously perched on a small stone, completing their circle. 

“First and foremost, the three of you should know a little of the history of the universe. Over ten thousand years ago, there was a vast coalition of peaceful alien races that stretched across the known universe. Two of the great leaders of that coalition were King Alfor of planet Altea, and Emperor Zarkon of planet Daibazaal. Together, the two of them gathered some of the universe’s greatest warriors and formed Voltron.”

“Wait, but I thought Voltron was some kind of weapon?” Katie interrupted. “And that it was hidden somewhere on Earth?”

“Yes and no. In truth, Voltron is a vast robot formed of five mechanical lions, each driven by a separate pilot. Only one of the Lions is hidden on Earth. The other four are scattered throughout the universe.”

“So, the King Whatsit and Emperor Z-something were two of the pilots?” Lance frowned.

“That’s right,” Krolia nodded. “Only, ten thousand years ago, something happened and Zarkon became corrupted by a dark power. He betrayed the other four pilots, or Paladins, and forced King Alfor to send the Lions away to keep them out of his hands. Zarkon has been searching for them ever since, and expanding his empire in the process.”

“So, wait, this guy is still alive?!” Hunk gaped. “How long do most aliens live!?”

“Yes. It has something to do with the power that corrupted him, although not much is known about it. If there were any records describing it, they have been lost to the ages.”

“So what does that make you?” Katie frowned.

“I am a defector from the Galra Empire. I belong to an organization known as the Blade of Marmora. We are a small, closely-knit network spread throughout the Empire that specializes in infiltration and intelligence, and we work to weaken and one day destroy the Empire from within.”

“So you’re the same type of alien as this Emperor Zarkon?”

“Yes,” Krolia replied frankly. “I am a full-blooded Galra citizen.”

“So how did you end up here?” Lance frowned.

“Almost twenty years ago, my brother Thace--another Blade--and I were assigned to a scouting party sent to find any traces of the Lions of Voltron. It just so happened that we ended up tracing the signal to Earth. The third member of our party, a loyalist to the Empire, was preparing to send word to the main fleet that we had found a Lion, so I took action and shot him down. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was shot down as well.

“That was when I met Keith’s father. He was the one that found my ship and pulled me out of the wreckage. My brother joined us shortly thereafter, and the three of us lived together for a time while I recovered and we searched for the Lion.”

“Did you ever find it?” Katie asked eagerly. 

“Yes. In fact, it lies in these very caves,” Krolia smiled. “Needless to say, we knew that we had to take action. Thace returned to the Blades to report the finding of the Lion, as well as report to the Empire that the area had no traces of Voltron, while I opted to remain here and protect the Lion.”

“…And possibly hook up with Keith’s pops?”

_ “Lance!!” _

“Ow!” the dark-skinned boy yelped as Katie slugged him on the arm. Krolia just laughed. 

“I won’t deny that he was a strong motivation to remain here as well,” she admitted. “Still, all things considered, I think it’s better that I stayed.”

“…So, what happens now?” Hunk piped up. “I mean, where do  _ we _ fit into all this? And Shiro? I mean, it’s not like  _ we’re _ aliens, right?”

“A year ago, Shiro and his crew were captured by the Galra Empire--something that we’ve already told Pidge. Keith and I knew that Shiro was going to return to Earth tonight because it was one of ours that helped him escape. We have men searching for your family as well,” she added quietly, glancing towards Katie, and saw her slump slightly with relief. 

“Thank you,” the sandy-haired girl whispered.

“But why ask us to help? It looked like you had it pretty much covered.”

“Do you remember what I said about each of the Voltron Lions having a different pilot?”

“…Yeah?”

“Not just anyone can pilot a Lion. Legends speak of how the Paladins developed something of a psychic link with their ships. It’s not fully understood how that happened or why, but it  _ is _ certain that the quintessence of each ship is reflected in the quintessence of its pilot.”

“I’m sorry, quintessence?” Katie frowned.

“It’s an energy found in all living beings,” Krolia explained. “My species is particularly sensitive to its pull, and my son has an even greater sensitivity than most.”

“Sensitivity?”

“I guess that’s my cue,” Keith sighed, sitting beside his mother. The woman smiled fondly at him, reaching out to gently run her fingers through his thick hair. He leaned into her touch, a low purr humming in his throat and a little of the tension easing from his body. “I’m not really sure why,” he continued after a moment, “but I’ve always sort of been able to see peoples’ energy in their eyes.”

“What’s  _ that  _ mean?” Lance frowned.

“Remember the first day of class?”

“When you  _ hit me? _ Uh, duh, kinda hard to forget.”

“Do you remember me asking about your eyes?”

“Yeah, it was rude.”

“I wasn’t asking because the color itself threw me off. I asked because, to me, it looked like they were glowing.”

“Wait. What?” Lance blinked, looking about as stunned and confused as the other two teens did.

“It was like that from the moment I met every one of you. I just always knew that you were all the right fits for four of the Voltron Lions. Blue, green, yellow, and black,” her son continued, pointing to each of them in turn. “With the four of you, and then when the fifth paladin is found, Voltron will be able to return and defeat Zarkon.”

“That’s… insane,” Katie stared at him. “Are you suggesting that  _ we’re  _ supposed to defeat a  _ ten thousand year old Empire?!” _

“More or less?”

“So why wait until  _ now _ to say anything?”

“To start with, because we had no idea where the other Lions were. Actually, we still don’t. But we’ve run out of time.”

“What do you mean  _ ‘we’ve run out of time’?!” _ Hunk squawked. “Are the aliens coming? Are they coming  _ here!?” _

“Yes, they are,” Krolia replied grimly. “We’ve received word from the other Blades that the Galra Empire have finally managed to hunt down the Blue Lion once more.”

“So wait,  _ my _ lion is the one that’s on Earth?! Awesome!!”

“Yes, and the Empire is coming for it. They’ll be here in about eighteen hours.”

“So what do we do?!”

“We leave before they get here,” Keith replied smoothly. “If Voltron’s signature disappears from Earth, then they should lose interest and take their search elsewhere.”

“And what if they don’t?” Katie frowned.

“That’s my responsibility,” Krolia replied grimly. “While the five of you go to the Blades and help them find the other four Lions, I will remain here, and help Earth prepare for war.”


	6. Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe

“-quiznacking Galra aboard my ship!!”

Coran opened his eyes to the sight of around half a dozen strangers in unusual clothing gathered around the Princess, clearly restraining her, while she held a strange knife in both hands.

“Enemy combatants!” he exclaimed, instinctively leaping at the closest of their attackers. He was surprised when the young man dodged him easily, but at least his movement to avoid the attack gave Princess Allura the chance to wrench herself free of her attackers, charging at a boy with long dark hair and a red coat with a vicious battle cry.

“I’m telling you, I’m  _ not your enemy!”  _ the boy shouted desperately, dodging each of the princess’s wild strikes. A tall man with black hair and white bangs quickly rushed forward to restrain her again, catching both of her arms and yanking her back.

“Oi, hands off the princess!”

“Ugh, another one?” a small figure in green groaned as he and the boy Coran had first struck rushed to intercept him and a giant in yellow hurried to grab one of the princess’s arms.

“Um, Keith, what do we do?!”

“I may be Galra, but I’m not with the Empire! I would  _ never  _ serve those monsters!”

“Stop lying to me, Galra!” Allura screamed back. “You’re all the same; you all took our trust and crushed it underfoot! You betrayed Altea and you  _ killed my father!” _

Coran blinked, utterly confused. That boy looked anything  _ but _ Galra, and he wasn’t acting much like one either. At any rate, he certainly wasn’t rushing into the fight screaming ‘vrepit sah!’ at the top of his lungs. “Hold on, have I missed something?” he asked the skinny young man blocking him from cutting in.

“Uh,” the tall boy began eloquently, exchanging quick looks with the shorter kid next to him. “Well, we just arrived here through a wormhole in a giant blue lion that’s apparently part of a superweapon named Voltron and the spooky castle lights led us here and then those pod thingies opened up and the hottie fell out but Keith was so shocked that he apparently said a curse word in Galra which she didn’t like so much so we’re trying to calm her down so that Keith can explain things and it’s not going so well.”

“…I see,” Coran blinked, wondering what part of  _ that _ disaster he should address first. “So, uh,  _ is _ he Galra?”

“Half-Galra, apparently,” the short one piped up quickly. “His father was from our planet and his mother is a Galra defector. She helped protect the Blue Lion until its Paladin was found.”

“Blaytz is still alive?!” Coran cried eagerly. “I thought he was killed in the battle for Altea!”

“Um…” The two young people exchanged uneasy looks, and the Altean’s hopes instantly fell. “You’re saying… a new Paladin was chosen?” he said quietly.

“Yeah,” the short one said again. “Lance here was able to fly it.”

“Then… How long has it been?”

Another uncertain glance.

“Uh, at a rough guess around ten thousand years?” ‘Lance’ offered nervously.

Coran’s eyes widened in horror. If ten thousand years had passed without anyone awakening them, then that probably meant…  _ Oh no…  _

“I said  _ stop it!” _

“Oof!”

Coran turned with no small amount of surprise to see that the small red boy had managed to take Allura down to the floor and kick that strange knife away from her hand, pinning her to the ground with a knee in her back and gripping both of her wrists to keep her from striking him. His eyes had turned to yellow slits, a sign of his Galra heritage, anger burning in their depths, and yet he still managed to hold himself in check, not causing any more pain than was absolutely necessary to hold the princess down. It was either a display of intense restraint on a Galra’s part, or a mark of his Earthling heritage; he wasn’t certain yet.

“Get  _ off _ of me, monster!” Allura snapped, struggling wildly.

“Hey, that’s enough!” the tall man in black reprimanded her sharply. “Keith hasn’t done anything wrong; the least you could do is give him a chance to explain himself!”

“He’s right, Princess,” Coran agreed calmly, setting aside his own breakdown for the moment. “Why don’t we all take a deep breath and figure out what’s going on here, shall we?”

The princess glowered up at him, sharp blue eyes burning with rage. Coran met her fury fearlessly, waiting for her to settle the way he used to when she was a child and he was trying to teach her that she couldn’t always get her way. Finally, it was Allura who broke eye contact, turning her glare to the floor and letting her arms go loose. “Fine,” she spat, and the halfling carefully stepped away from her, grabbing the knife she had been using and sheathing it at the small of his back.

_ Ah, so that’s where that came from. _

“So let me get this straight,” the Princess began coldly after the five strangers had gone through their explanation. “The four of you believe that you are to be four of the Voltron Paladins, and all of this because of the word of some… some  _ Galra?” _

“Well, and the fact that I  _ was _ able to fly the Blue Lion,” Lance pointed out. 

“He does have a point, Princess,” Coran soothed quietly.

“I do not trust-!”

“Then don’t trust me,” the Galra halfling, or Keith as he’d introduced himself, spoke up. He was obviously tense, but his voice was calm and carefully in control. “You’re the daughter of one of the most accomplished Altean alchemists in history. Look at them for yourself, then decide whether or not I’m telling the truth.” 

Coran was honestly a little impressed when Keith withstood the scrutiny of Allura’s piercing blue gaze. He was obviously confident in his abilities. Had he lived ten thousand years ago, it was possible that he could have joined the Galra druids, a circle of mystics comparable to the Altean alchemists. The royal advisor was pulled out of his musings when Allura abruptly seemed to stiffen, then tore her eyes from the boy, fixating them instead on the black-and-white-haired one, Shiro, then Hunk, Lance, and Pidge in turn. Slowly, her anger turned to guarded curiosity, and she nodded stiffly. “It would seem that you are telling the truth, at least as far as that is concerned,” she said coldly. “However-”

An alarm cut through her next words, sending the entire group scrambling back to their feet. “A Galra battle cruiser has set its tracker to us!” Coran exclaimed as he rushed to the control panel, swiping through the information contained there.

“This is your doing!” Allura snapped, whirling on Keith. “You told them where to find us, didn’t you!”

“What?! No, I would never-!”

“This isn’t the time for an argument!” Shiro interrupted sharply. “How long until they arrive?”

“At their speed?” Coran frowned, quickly counting on his fingers. “I’d say about a couple of days?”

“Then there’s no time to lose. We may not know the identity of the Red Paladin yet, but we at least have the other four here. Princess, is there any way you can help us find the other three Lions?”

“There is,” Coran cut in quietly. “King Alfor connected the Lions to Allura’s life force. She alone is the key to their whereabouts.”

“The Paladins may follow me to the bridge,” Allura conceded irritably. “Coran, remain here with the Galra. I don’t trust him to see the Lions’ coordinates.”

“Hey, isn’t that a little-?”

“It’s fine, Shiro,” Keith sighed wearily, sitting back down. “Just go. I’ll be fine here.”

“Are you sure?” Shiro frowned, casting a disapproving look towards the princess. Honestly, Coran was tempted to do the same. This was becoming a little ridiculous. Even if Zarkon  _ had _ destroyed Altea, that was no excuse for behaving so rudely to an obvious ally. Not to mention an ally that had helped find not one but  _ four _ Paladins of the Voltron Lions.

“I’m sure,” Keith nodded, then looked Allura directly in the eye again and, oh,  _ there _ was a little bit of his Galra heritage coming through. “I won’t allow myself to be daunted by this.”

Allura huffed, then spun on her heel and led the other four Earthlings out of the cryochamber. As soon as the door closed, Keith slumped back with a tired sigh, closing his eyes against the bright lights coming from all directions. 

“Are you alright?” Coran asked quietly, sitting beside him.

“I never thought I’d meet an actual Altean,” the boy admitted softly. “Especially not Princess Allura.”

“I suppose that it’s a bit of a shock for everyone,” the royal advisor nodded. “I do apologize for the Princess’s reaction, though. She took the betrayal of Daibazaal very hard. Not to mention the death of her father and the destruction of Altea.”

“I can’t really blame her. Were our situations reversed, I would probably feel similarly to her.”

“Even so, I’ll need to have a talk with her down the line if this keeps up,” Coran frowned. “If we can’t work together, we don’t stand a chance against the Empire.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Keith sighed again, gazing up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown. “What do you think it will take? To prove myself to her?”

“That’s difficult to say. But I’m certain that if you’re determined to do so, then it will work out.”


	7. Princess Allura of Altea

Allura’s heart thrummed with nervous anticipation. This was a risky plan, but it was the best one that they had. Hunk and Lance were approaching the Galra ship under the pretense of surrender, while Shiro, Pidge and--much to her chagrin--the  _ Galra _ snuck aboard the ship with the Green Lion. While Lance and Hunk kept Sendak busy and she and Coran worked to repair the particle barrier, the Galra, with his special sense for quintessence and his ‘training from his mother’ (and if that was quiznacking suspicious, Allura didn’t know what was) would help Shiro and Pidge find the Red Lion, blow up whatever bay it was in so that Hunk and Lance could collect it, and scuttle the ship so that it wouldn’t be able to attack the Castle.

There was just one little problem, playing out in clear hearing range over Allura’s comm link.

_ “I’ve been here before. I was held prisoner on this ship!” _

_ “So, that means your other crew members; they might be held captive here! We have to rescue them!” _

_ “Pidge, we don’t have time. We have to find the Red Lion and get back to Arus.” _

_ “Shiro-”  _ the Galra’s voice began before Pidge cut him off again.

_ “We can’t just leave prisoners here!” _

_ “No one understands that more than me,”  _ Shiro tried to soothe his fellow Paladin,  _ “but in war we have to make hard choices. Now let’s get moving.” _

_ “No!”  _ Pidge snapped sharply, voice crackling through the headset.  _ “Commander Holt is my father. I’ve been searching  _ everywhere _ for him and my brother and I am not giving up when I’m this close!” _

_ “Pidge-” _

_ “Go.” _

Allura’s head snapped up from the screen she had been working at.

_ “Keith?” _

_ “There aren't any Blades in Sendak's fleet, so if they were sent here, it's possible they slipped by us. Besides, if we're going to scuttle the ship, this could be our only chance to rescue them. You know where the prisoners are held, Shiro. Go with Pidge, get them out. I can handle finding the Red Lion and setting the charges on my own.” _

“Absolutely not!” Allura cut in sharply. 

_ “Shiro. Trust me.” _

“You are not to head off alone on that ship!” the princess insisted, her mind spinning with the gravity of the possibilities. Betraying their defences to Sendak, revealing the location of Earth to conquer it, ambushing the unsuspecting Paladins on board the ship-

_ “Alright.” _

“What!?”

_ “Be careful, Keith. Remember, patience yields focus.” _

_ “I know.” _

“Shiro, don’t you dare let that Galra head off a-”

_ “Someone’s coming!” _

The paladins scattered after that, leaving Allura grinding her teeth in fear and frustration, stamping down on the little reminder in the back of her mind, the little voice insisting that she knew what Keith really was. Zarkon betrayed his fellow Paladins; why wouldn't this one? She jumped when she felt a hand on her arm, looking straight into Coran’s calm, stern gaze.

“You really should put more faith in them,” he said quietly, glancing out the window towards the flashes of light indicating the start of Lance and Hunk’s firefight with Sendak’s fleet. “If the Paladins trust young Keith, then so do I. He’ll prove himself to you one day; you’ll see.”

Allura grumbled, but chose not to argue under the circumstances. They had more important things to worry about, such as repairing the Castle of Lions’s defenses. The mice were very helpful on that point, but she could only spare a moment for her gratitude. She had to remain focused on keeping a vigilant ear out for the Paladins’ voices, waiting breathlessly for any indication that they were in danger. Or, well, more danger than was expected. She listened while Shiro and Pidge found the prison cells, listened to the disappointment in their voices when they failed to find Pidge’s family and the ensuing conflict when they reached the escape pod, and sighed in relief when they reported that they had made it back to the Green Lion safely. 

_ “Keith, what’s your ETA?”  _ Shiro asked. His response was nothing like what they expected.

_ “Tell me you made it back to the Lion!” _ the Galra snapped, sounding slightly panicked and very much out of breath.

_ “Keith, what’s wrong?” _ the Black Paladin demanded, instantly on the alert.

_ “I’ve set the charges, but Sendak- Gah!” _

_ “Keith!!” _

_ “Th-That should hold him for a minute, but I've been cornered. I’m not gonna make it to rendezvous; just go without me!” _

_ “What?! We can’t do that!!”  _ Pidge snapped.  _ "Tell us where you are; we'll come and get you!" _

_ “Pidge, there isn't time. Listen to me: _ you _ are the Paladins of Voltron; your lives are more important than mine!” _

_ “Keith, what are you saying?” _

_ “Find the rest of the Blades; they can help you! And Katie, whenever you get in contact with Mom, tell her I’m sorry.” _

_ “Wait. Wait, Keith-!!” _

__ The explosion that rang over the mics had every single one of the Paladins crying out with pain. Even Allura found herself clapping her hands over her ears, almost deafened by the sudden blast. 

_ “What the heck just happened?!” _ Lance’s voice rang in the distance.  _ “Where are you guys; did you make it out? Guys!?” _

“Shiro! Pidge! K-Keith! Please, respond!” Allura begged, a sense of dread pooling in the pit of her stomach. That quiznacking voice in her head was growing louder. The one that said the Galra was-

_ “Keith… Keith just overloaded the ion cannon… and blew up the ship with him still in it,”  _ Shiro panted over the comms, sounding stunned.  _ “I think… I think he ran into Sendak, and then…” _

_ No…  _

_ “You’re kidding… He wouldn’t… Keith! Keith, talk to us, man; you’re not allowed to go up in a blaze of glory like some kind of-!” _

_ “Keith! Keith please you can’t do this to us!”  _ Pidge’s voice pleaded, sounding close to tears. 

_ “Uh, guys?!”  _ Hunk’s voice suddenly cut through the panic, tight and squeaky.  _ “The Red Lion was floating among the debris a second ago, right?” _

_ “Um, right?” _

_ “So why is it  _ moving!?”

_ Wait, what? _

_ “He’s right! The Red Lion’s particle barrier has dropped and it’s headed directly towards Arus!” _

_ “Did one of the Galra figure out how to fly it?!” _

_ “We need to get back and defend the Castle!” _

_ “We can’t just leave without looking for Keith; he might still be alive!” _

_ “Hunk, Lance, you two head back to Arus! Pidge and I will search the wreckage for Keith! Princess, Coran, be ready to defend yourselves!” _

“Understood!” Coran called. “Hurry, Paladins! The Red Lion is the fastest and most agile of the Lions; it will likely get here well before the two of you-”

Allura and Coran both cried out in surprise as an ear-splitting roar rattled the air around the Castle of Lions. The Princess stared in surprise as the Red Lion hovered just outside of the particle barrier, its eyes seemingly fixated on hers, boring into her very soul as it tore apart her every doubt and ounce of prejudice until she could no longer deny what her intuition had told her from the beginning.

“Coran, lower the particle barrier.”

“What?!”

“Then go prepare a cryopod. Hurry!” she called, abandoning the bridge and sprinting towards the main entrance of the Castle. The Red Lion had landed by the time she arrived there, lowering its head as its mouth opened to reveal the still figure of the Galra halfling, curled limply on his side, one hand loosely clutching the hilt of a luxite sword with a strange purple symbol on the base of the blade, his chest rising and falling with each shallow, painful breath, red, blistered skin showing through the tears in the black undersuit of the armor he had borrowed for this mission, a gash in his side and a piece of shrapnel sunk deeply into his arm causing crimson blood to stain the white armor red.

The color mocked her. It was just one more reminder that her bias may very well have cost the universe everything.

“Paladins, return to the Castle! The Red Lion brought Keith back with it; I’m taking him to the cryochamber now!”

_ “Keith’s with you?!” _

_ “Thank goodness!” _

_ “We’re on our way!” _


	8. Keith Kogane

_ Heavy breathing.  _

_ That was the first thing he heard. The strange part of it was that he wasn’t certain if the breathing was coming from him, or the thing that was hunting him.  _

_ He heard a crash, a bang; he was out of time. _

_ He spun on his heel, luxite sword raised, but he was too slow--the creature’s metal claw swiped under his guard, slashing his stomach open. He heard himself cry out, felt the pain searing through him before the world was engulfed in flames and suddenly he was falling,  _ falling FALLING.

Keith lurched back into consciousness, but kept his eyes closed, some primal instinct warning him that the predator from his nightmares might still be stalking him. As his mind began to kick back into gear however, he realized that the situation was not all what he had anticipated it to be. First of all, he  _ woke up. _ That was the last thing he had expected to happen. Actually, waking up was the  _ second _ to last thing he had expected. Waking up and not being in mortal agony?  _ That _ was the last thing that he had expected. And yet, here he was. 

_ Am I dead? _ he wondered, straining his senses to find out. He could vaguely hear something, an occasional murmuring, cutting in and out of his awareness. There was also a weirdly soothing sense of cold, and a muted scent almost like iron. Then he heard a soft hiss and felt something warm catch him around the waist as his knees buckled, lifting his arm over a steady anchor to keep him upright. 

“Keith? Keith, can you hear me?” a soft voice called.

_ Dad…? _ Something between a groan and a purr echoed up from Keith’s chest as he turned his face and breathed in a familiar scent. 

“Is that a yes or a no…?” another familiar voice murmured, sounding a mixture of mocking and worried. 

Keith opened his eyes, looking blearily up into a pair of dark eyes and a quiet smile. “Hey.”

“Hey, Shiro,” he smiled faintly, the tension in his shoulders finally relaxing.

“Keith!!”

The young man grunted in surprise as a small body all but tackled him around the middle, knocking him back against a smooth glass surface. “Hey, Katie,” he smiled, wrapping his free arm loosely around her shoulders, a little bit bewildered by the river of tears soaking through his… Wait, what happened to his shirt? Why was he wearing a-?

“Ow!” Keith yelped in surprise as Katie slugged him in the arm, managing to catch that sensitive spot that turned the entire limb numb. “What was that fo-?”

“Don’t  _ ever  _ scare me like that again!” the girl yelled, startling him silent.

The Galra halfling blinked at her, bewildered by the vehemence in her tone. Sure, running into Sendak wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t exactly his fault. “Sorry?” Keith offered weakly, rubbing his arm.

“And don’t you  _ dare _ try to act like what you did was okay!!” Katie continued, almost screaming in frustration, a fresh wave of tears welling up in her eyes. “How  _ dare _ you say that our lives are more important than yours, huh?! You’re our  _ friend,  _ Keith, doesn’t that make you important enough?”

_ Oh. That’s what she’s upset about? _

“Wait, what was that?!” Hunk called incredulously.

“Keith said that our lives were ‘more important than his’ because we’re Paladins, and he’s not!”

Keith couldn’t help but shrink back a little bit as Lance and Hunk each gaped at him, a mixture of shock and anger burning in their eyes. “What?” he asked. Wasn’t it true? The universe needed  _ them, _ not him. He wasn’t the one who was going to end up in history books. He was just another soldier in a millennia-old war.

The Earthlings didn’t appear to agree with him though, judging by the way Lance was advancing on him, his dark blue eyes narrowed in fury. For several seconds, Keith was convinced that the other boy was about to kill him. When he raised his hand, the halfling closed his eyes in preparation for being clocked across the jaw. Instead, his eyes flew back open when the taller boy dragged him into a bone-crushing embrace. 

“You idiot,” Lance growled in his ear.

“Uh…? Oof!”

Hunk had joined the hug, sandwiching the two of them and adding yet another layer of pressure to Keith’s ribs. Before he knew it, Katie and Shiro had joined the group hug too, and the halfling was feeling more than a little bit claustrophobic. “Um, guys?” he grunted. “Squishing me?”

“Good,” Katie mumbled somewhere to his left. “Maybe that’ll keep you from doing anything that  _ stupid _ again.”

“What are you-?”

“Your life  _ matters, _ Keith,” Shiro murmured from the other side. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a Paladin or not. We can’t do this without you.” 

“He’s right,” Hunk agreed. “We don’t care if you’re Galra or human or whatever else you might be. You’re our friend.”

Okay. Maybe waking up was the  _ third  _ to last thing Keith had been expecting, because he most certainly had not been expecting tears to well up in his eyes. All this time, Keith had always thought of himself as an outsider, as someone alien from the people that he had met on Earth. Thus, he really hadn’t known what to expect when he and his mother revealed their identities as Galra dissidents to his friends(? at the time). He wouldn’t have blamed them if they’d been furious, or at least frightened, especially Shiro considering everything that the Empire had put him through. But they’d accepted him open-armed--literally. For someone that had always considered himself an expendable soldier in the war against the Empire, it was more than he’d ever hoped. 

Hence, the tears. At least, he could only assume that was the reason. Tears were more of a human than Galra trait, and he had been raised more Galra than human, so he wasn't especially accustomed to them. Still, his mother had often reminded him that being half-Galra didn’t change the fact that he had human needs, too, and one of those was human bonds. Keith supposed that this was proof.

“Promise us you won’t do that again,” Shiro insisted quietly.

“Okay,” he whispered after a moment. “I promise.”

“Thank you.”

“Um, Keith?”

The pile of Paladins shifted, stepping back slightly to allow Princess Allura to step forward. She had changed back into her dress, the skirt of which she now fidgeted with, her fingers curling and uncurling in the stiff fabric, her eyes averted from theirs. “Yes, Princess?” Keith asked quietly even as he tensed, feeling almost naked in this white jumpsuit without the protection of his luxite blade. 

“May I… have a word with you? A-Alone?”

It was kind of a relief to feel the way that his friends stiffened at her request, obviously not quite trusting the Altean princess around him. It made him feel a little more justified for his own instinctive reaction to her scrutiny. But, something felt a little different this time. Something in her eyes. It was considerably less hostile than when they had first met. “Okay,” he nodded, ignoring the shocked looks that his friends were sending him. 

Allura smiled nervously, leading the way out of the cryochamber.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Keith asked as the door closed behind them. He may have agreed to speak with her alone, but he didn’t particularly want to travel too far outside of his friends’ hearing range.

“I… I just wanted to say…” The Princess paused, taking a deep breath. “The… The Empire. They have done…  _ terrible _ things. Destroyed entire civilizations. They took my  _ family  _ away. But… But it wasn’t fair of me to treat you as one of them, and I need to apologize to you for that.”

Keith blinked, his lips parting in surprise, not that the Altean seemed to notice. Words poured out of her mouth like a river, unable to be stopped. “When I learned you were Galra, I… I lost my sense of reason. I was blind. Blinded by my anger and hatred, and as a result, I nearly put the entire universe in jeopardy.”

“What do you mean?” Keith frowned.

When Allura met his gaze, her eyes were pained. Guilty, even. “The truth is, I owe you more apologies than one. We do not have four of the Paladins of Voltron with us. We have all five.”

Keith stared at her. Blinked. Cocked his head. Frowned. Then the truth hit him like a thunderbolt and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. “You’re not saying-”

“Yes, I am,” Allura whispered. “It’s  _ you,  _ Keith.  _ You _ are the fifth Paladin. You’ve proven that it’s not what’s in your blood, but who you  _ are _ that counts. And that is why the Red Lion chose you.”

Keith felt like his vision was tunneling, his every breath tight and confused. He knew the old legends. He knew who had flown the Red Lion in days of old. “But… But the Red Lion… Wasn’t your father-?”

“The previous Red Paladin?” Allura offered with a strained smile. “Yes.”

“…Is that why you didn't say anything before?”

The Princess glanced away from him, her fingers twisting in her lap. “That… might have been part of it,” she admitted quietly. “But ultimately, my opinion doesn’t matter in this. No matter my reasons, the Red Lion has chosen you, and there is nothing that I can say to change that. Trying to ignore or bury the truth the way I did was a critical mistake--one that nearly cost you your life and the universe the Red Paladin--and no apology can truly make up for the horrors I put you through. I know that it may be impossible to forgive me, so I won’t ask you to. But please know that, going forward, I at least hope that we can build a relationship as allies.”

Keith stared at her, wide-eyed. Honestly, he wasn’t certain whether or not he could or even  _ should _ forgive her either, but a working relationship? He could do that much at least. He had been hurt, and that made him wary of the Princess, but what she had just done demonstrated a great deal of emotional strength and vulnerability, and he could respect that. Besides, as Coran had said before, if they couldn’t work together, then they didn’t stand much chance against Zarkon. 

“Okay,” he said finally. “Allies. I can work with that.”

Some of the tension slipped from Allura’s shoulders, and a small smile curled her lips. “Thank you, Keith,” she whispered.

They returned to the rest of the group after that, where Keith promptly found himself mobbed by Katie and Hunk, both apparently set on demonstrating to him just how much he actually mattered to them. Shiro stood back, watching them with an amused smile, while Lance rolled his eyes and went to flirt with the Princess, who had joined Coran at the console to discuss their next move. They were certainly an odd bunch, but Keith couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Keith had always been different, knowing things that nobody else could know, raised in a culture that nobody else could understand. Honestly, he suspected that he would  _ always _ be different one way or another, and that his learning curve would only grow steeper. But he could live with that, because for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel quite so alien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! If the AU gets enough interest, I might consider turning this into a series, but for now I'm done. Hope you guys liked it! Thanks for reading!!


	9. Halcyon Days

Hello, friends!!

So this isn't a chapter, it's an announcement. Well, a couple of announcements. Announcement number one, I am going to turn this into a series! However, it will take some time to put together my outline, hence announcement number two.

A conversation in the comments gave me the idea to write a little prequel-esque story to Aliens Amongst Us about the Kogane family in this AU. It will be called Halcyon Days, and it will be a series of drabbles and one-shots about the complexities of growing up on Earth with a human dad and a Galra mom.

That being said, I am opening up the comments here for you guys to send me prompts! What do you wanna know about little Keith and his life with his parents? I am excited to hear what you come up with!

Thanks for reading!

Carrie Poppins


End file.
